Swiss Franc The Euro has risen by 0.06% at 1.1231 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 26(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: The sell-off in equities seemed to peak yesterday, and US indices were narrowly mixed. Traders found comfort in that performance, even though the S&P 500 finished a little below 2800, and took the markets in the Asia-Pacific region...
Read More »Swiss parliament calls for more online purchases to be taxed
© Panuwat Dangsungnoen | Dreamstime.com Since 1 January 2019, companies abroad making more than CHF 100,000 in revenue must charge Swiss VAT on sales made to anyone in Switzerland. Now the Swiss government has decided to take aim at online platforms such as Aliexpress and Wish, according to the broadcaster RTS. Rather than chasing foreign companies selling products in Switzerland, Beat Vonlanthen, an MP from Fribourg,...
Read More »Europe and China
The US-China trade talks look like they may very well continue through most of the second quarter, despite how much progress is being claimed. Meanwhile, the tariffs remain in effect, but the market’s sensitivity to developments has slackened since it was clear the Trump and Xi were not going to meet at the end of this month. Europe’s relationship with China will eclipse the US-China trade talks that resume with Mnuchin...
Read More »On Board Keynes Express to Ruin, Report 24 Mar
Last week, I ranted about the problem with our monetary system and trajectory: falling interest rates is Keynes’ evil genius plan to destroy civilization. This week, I continue the theme—if in a more measured tone—addressing the ideas predominant among the groups who are most likely to fight against Keynes’ destructionism. They are: the capitalists, the gold bugs, and the otherwise-free-marketers. I do not write this to...
Read More »The Media, Mueller, the Big Con and the Democratization of Narrative
Falling for a con is painful. The first reaction is to deny being conned, of course. The second is to blame skeptics for being correct in their skepticism. Here’s the fundamental “story” of the Mueller Investigation: elites don’t like “the little people” democratizing public narratives. The elites–who reckon their right to rule is self-evident–want to set the narrative and the context, because that’s the foundation of...
Read More »FX Daily, March 25: Monday Blues: Equities Pare Quarterly Gains
Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.12% at 1.1231 EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, March 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, ) Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge FX Rates Overview: Global equities have soured after the US shares dropped the most since very early in the year before the weekend. Asia’s sell-off was led by the 3% decline in Nikkei, while Malaysia fared among the best, surrendering 1%. Europe’s Dow...
Read More »Swiss Balance of Payments and International Investment Position: Q4 2018 and review of the year 2018
Key developments in 2018 The current account surplus for 2018 was CHF 71 billion, CHF 26 billion more than in the previous year. Changes in primary income (labour and investment income) had the greatest impact: Whereas one year earlier an expenses surplus of CHF 9 billion was recorded, owing to exceptionally large expenses for direct investment receipts in 2017, in the year under review there was a receipts surplus...
Read More »FX Weekly Preview: The Week Ahead
The combination of the dovish hold by the Federal Reserve and the eurozone’s miserable flash Purchasing Managers Index casts a pall over the economic outlook. Japan’s flash PMI remained stuck at February’s 48.9, while core inflation unexpectedly eased. Three months after the European Central Bank stopped buying bonds, the German 10-year Bund yield fell below zero for the first time since 2016. Japan’s 10-year yield is...
Read More »Swiss join protests against EU copyright reform
The EU copyright reform has been surrounded by controversy, particularly over Article 13, which imposes obligations on internet service providers to obtain licences from rightholders to publish content. Tens of thousands of people across Europe, including in the Swiss city of Zurich, staged protests on Saturday against the European Union’s planned copyright reform billexternal link. More than 1,000 demonstrators marched...
Read More »Politics Has Failed, Now Central Banks Are Failing
With each passing day, we get closer to the shift in the tide that will sweep away this self-serving delusion of the ruling elites like a crumbling sand castle. Those living in revolutionary times are rarely aware of the tumult ahead: in 1766, a mere decade before the Declaration of Independence, virtually no one was calling for American independence. Indeed, in 1771, a mere 5 years before the rebellion was declared,...
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